Patrick calls Oliver death a 'terrible tragedy'

Nashoba Publishing

Posted:
04/22/2014 04:13:09 PM EDT

BOSTON -- Gov. Deval Patrick called the death of 5-year-old Jeremiah Oliver a "terrible tragedy" after the boy's body was found and identified off a highway in Sterling last week, but the governor reiterated his support for Department of Children and Families Commissioner Olga Roche.

DCF had been active with Oliver's family prior to his September disappearance, but authorities subsequently learned that social workers had failed to conduct the requisite home visits leading up to Jeremiah's disappearance.

"This is a terrible tragedy. It's a tragedy that he was lost in the first place, and it's a tragedy that he has been apparently killed, and I can't think, as a parent, how that happens, how a young life is treated with such disgrace and disrespect," Patrick told reporters on Tuesday.

"I'm looking to the prosecutor to do his job and to prosecute to the fullest."

"I'm looking to the prosecutor to do his job and to prosecute to the fullest."

Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early is investigating the case. Authorities confirmed the identity on Saturday of a child's body found in a suitcase along a highway in Sterling as that of Jeremiah Oliver.

The boy's mother and her boyfriend are in custody and facing charges of assault and child endangerment, but it remains unclear whether the discovery of Jeremiah's body could lead to additional charges. Asked if he still supports Roche, who has been the target of some criticism, Patrick said he does and that "the facts haven't changed.

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Social workers have called for funding increases to help reduce the number of cases each social worker is assigned, and during budget hearings earlier in the year Roche said the $9.2 million in the governor's budget would allow caseloads to be reduced to 15 per social worker.

A Rep. James O'Day budget amendment (#986) would increase by about $17 million the line item funding the caseload reduction.

Asked if he had included enough money to manage caseload levels in his budget, Patrick said, "If the Legislature wants to do even better that's all to the good, but we still have to negotiate the staffing levels." Oliver's fifth birthday was Dec. 8, according to an official with knowledge of the case.

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